The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
by TheaJ1
Summary: My contribution to the Secret Santa Fan Fiction Swap 2011. Written for badjujube. New Moon AU. Alice has a Christmas present for Bella.
1. First Chapter

**A/N: This is my contribution for the Secret Santa Fan Fiction Swap 2011. The story was written for badjujube. I hope you enjoyed it! This story is finished, but if you want me to, I could write a few more chapters, covering the days after Christmas and New Year's Eve.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: The Twilight Saga is property of Stephenie Meyer. I'm only borrowing.**

**F****IRST**** C****HAPTER**

**20 December 2007**

**Forks, WA**

There was gold dust on the hardwood floor.

Bella was certain that it hadn't been there last night. Surely she'd have noticed it, wouldn't she? Then again, Bella had to admit that she wasn't very observant these days. What was the point? She decided that it didn't matter whether or not it had been there the night before. It was here now. The question just was how it had got here.

Bella brushed the tips of her fingers across the floor. The dust came away easily. There was nothing unusual about it, as far as Bella could tell. It looked exactly like the kind of gold dust you could buy almost everywhere before Christmas. Inspecting the window, Bella discovered traces of dust on the frame as well. She didn't leave her window open at night anymore. It was far too cold for that now. Besides, who would she leave it open for?

Her heart clenched at the thought and she quickly focused on the mystery of the gold dust.

Bella knew it couldn't have been Charlie. She would have heard him entering; her sleep was so light that the tiniest of noise jolted her awake now. Even if he tried, Charlie would never be able to sneak into her room without her noticing. He might not be as clumsy as Bella, but he didn't exactly move with the grace of a _Swan_ either.

So if it hadn't been Charlie, then who'd left it?

It was intriguing.

It couldn't have been her friends because Bella didn't have any friends anymore. The process had been a gradual one. At first they'd called almost every day, asking her how she was doing and offering her a shoulder to cry on. But when Bella hadn't called back, they'd stopped. She was aware that they thought she was overreacting. Girls got dumped by their boyfriends all the time after all. She wasn't the first and certainly wouldn't be the last. It wasn't the end of the world.

_I guess she thinks she's special_, Lauren had said disdainfully to Jessica the other day. _Personally, I think she only got what she deserved. I never understood what someone like Edward saw in someone like her!_

The words had stung because they were true. Lauren had only echoed Bella's own thoughts on the matter. _He_ had left her because he didn't love her anymore. Bella should have seen it coming, should have expected it, but she hadn't. The end, when it came, had been a terrible shock, but it hadn't been a surprise. She just wished his family hadn't left her as well. She missed them so much, every second of every day. She knew she should lock those feelings away, like she had locked away her love for _him_, but she couldn't. Not yet, because she was still mourning heir absence.

She'd tried to be happy, for Charlie's sake. This was their first Christmas together and she didn't want to ruin it for him. So she'd tried. Had put on a smile and tried to be cheerful. Oh, how she had tried! But Charlie, who was more observant than she'd ever given him credit for, had seen right through her and declared that if Bella didn't feel like having Christmas, then they'd simply have no Christmas.

He'd been so supportive in the past three months. He'd convinced Renée to let her stay. He didn't push her, didn't try to make her talk to him. But maybe he'd changed his mind. Maybe he'd decided that it was time that Bella finally got over Edward.

So maybe he'd left the gold dust for her to find after all, to get her into a Christmassy mood.

Besides, who else could have done it?

**Vancouver, BC, Canada**

"Why do _I_ have to wear this ridiculous suit?" Santa Claus complained.

Dumping his bag beside the door, he placed his hands on his hips and shot the Elf a sulky look. The Elf, not particularly impressed with Santa's un-Santa-like behaviour, rolled her eyes. She wondered briefly if he was aware of how unbecoming sulkiness was, especially in someone like Santa Claus, and decided that, no, he probably didn't.

The Angel simply sighed theatrically and flopped unceremoniously down on the sofa, nearly snapping her elaborate strap-on wings in half. The Elf growled quietly. She's worked hours to perfect them. The feathers were real, not artificial, and the Elf had meticulously dusted each one with gold and silver to match the embroidery on the Angel's long, white dress.

Judging by the look on the Angel's face she couldn't have cared less.

"Well?" Santa Claus demanded.

"Because it fits you," the Elf replied, somewhat irritated, as she joined the Angel on the sofa, careful not to crease her own costume. A dozen of tiny bells jingled quietly as she sat down. "Besides, it's an honour to wear the uniform."

"An honour?" Santa's eyebrows disappeared into the white hairline of his wig. "How is _this_," he pointed at the red suit with an expression of severe distaste, "an honour? I look like an over-sized lobster!"

The Elf narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm just asking," Santa amended quickly, realising he was very close to provoking the Elf's ire, "why I have to be Santa! Why can't I be the elf? Or the angel?"

The Angel and Elf both gaped at him, then, in a rare moment of complete agreement, started laughing.

"You honestly want to wear a white dress?" the Elf ask, giggling.

"And wings?" the Angel added.

"No, of course not," Santa defended himself, scowling. Why didn't they take him seriously? Ever? "I was thinking about something along the lines of a trench coat. You know, like Castiel on _Supernatural_. I'm sure that'd look good on me."

The Elf sighed. "That's not exactly Christmassy."

"No," the Angel agreed. "It's not." Privately, she thought the Elf was carrying things a little too far. Costumes? Really? _If she wakes up I don't want her to recognise us_, the Elf had explained. Well, in the Elf's world that probably made sense. The Angel could have done without the whole bringing joy to the world thing. All she wanted was to get the lost lamb home, convince him of the error of his ways. The Angel had repeatedly asked the Elf why she insisted on including _her_ in the plan. The answer had always been the same, just delivered with varying degrees of patience: Without her the lost lamb would't come home. The Angel doubted that. Surely, he'd be over her by now. Then again, if he had, he'd be here and they wouldn't be wearing these ridiculous costumes.

It suddenly struck the Angel that she was being unfair. The general mood had improved quite a bit ever since the Elf put her plan in motion. True, they'd had to shift their base of operations from Ithaca to Vancouver. Travelling over two thousand miles each night just wasn't practical.

The Elf's cell phone started ringing. _Jingle Bells._

"The North Pole," The Elf said on picking up. "Santa Headquarters. How may I help you?"

"Really?" the Angel mouthed, exasperated.

This time it was Santa who shot her an admonishing glance, apparently having forgotten that up until a minute ago he'd been the one complaining. "If it makes her happy," he said with a shrug.

The Angel made a face. Unfortunately, Santa had a point.

They were in dire need of happiness.

**Somewhere in Montana**

"The North Pole. Santa Headquarters," the cheerful voice said. "How may I help you?"

"The North Pole?" Jasper asked incredulously although he probably should be used to Alice's antics by now. "Really?"

"That's where Santa lives, isn't it?"

"Alice," Jasper said very slowly and in a tone normally reserved for the dying, "you do know that Santa Claus doesn't exist, right?"

"Do you all have no imagination?" Alice asked sadly.

Jasper's lips twitched despite himself. He could practically see her puppy dog-eyed expression over the phone. Whatever Alice did, she did thoroughly. And regardless of the consequences, which sometimes—well, most of the time, really—meant having to step on people's toes to get what she wanted. By her tone Jasper guessed that she'd had run-in with Emmett Santa Claus and Rosalie Angel again. It wasn't that they were opposed to her idea. Jasper had been there when Alice had briefed the three of them and while Rosalie had huffed and puffed, she hadn't been able to hide her excitement at the thought of bringing Edward home. Emmett had been as enthusiastic as ever, at least until he'd learned that was to play Santa Claus, complete with strap-on belly, red velvet suit, and white beard and wig.

Emmett would never admit it, but he was just as vain as Rosalie.

Jasper liked Alice's idea, mainly because he didn't have to dress up to do his part. Unfortunately, this didn't mean that the task she'd set him would be as easy as killing a baby lamb, but it would definitely be just as little fun. In fact, so far he hadn't made much progress although he'd been on the road for a little over two weeks now. Jasper was very good at tracking, but trying to track someone—who didn't seem to know where he was going was an unmitigated pain in the posterior. Alice was clueless as well, which irritated her to no end. Edward didn't decide anything. He let himself drift. Jasper was currently somewhere in Montana and Edward's trail at least a week old.

If only he'd finally make up his mind!

Jasper didn't plan to give up. That wasn't like him. Besides, Alice had described her visions of Bella to him and Jasper knew that they had no choice. Edward had asked Alice not to look out for Bella's future, but she couldn't just flip a switch and tune her out. She couldn't control the visions that came to her.

"I'm afraid I've hit a dead end," he informed her. "He was here sometime last week. I only know because it hasn't snowed since then which is, in itself, a small miracle for Montana at this time of year. Any ideas as to where he may have gone?"

"Give me a minute," Alice said.

Jasper waited patiently.

"Eureka," Alice finally said.

Jasper blinked. "Does that mean you know where he is?"

"No, I mean that's _where_ he is. Or will be in a little while. Eureka, South Dakota."

"Do you think he may be headed for Chicago?"

"That I can't tell you. Maybe subconsciously."

Jasper sighed. "I suppose that's better than nothing." He knew the general location of the town although he'd never been there before. Hopefully, he'd be able to make the trip in just a couple of hours, provided that the sky stayed hidden underneath a blanket of grey clouds. If it didn't, he'd lose valuable time. "I do have another question," he said then. "I know you want to hand him to Bella gift-wrapped and with a pretty bow on his head. Personally, I'd love to see that, but I doubt he'll let us. For that matter, how am I supposed to sneak up on him? He'll know why I'm there the second I've found him."

"Then don't think about it," Alice advised. "You also might want to corner him somewhere he can't escape you without making a scene. And then you'll just have to hold on to him until you've marched him home."

"You always make it sound so easy," Jasper replied with a sigh.


	2. Second Chapter

**Disclaimer: The Twilight Saga is property of Stephenie Meyer. I'm only borrowing.**

**S****ECOND**** C****HAPTER**

**21 December 2007**

**Forks, WA**

Bella was standing in the forest. It wasn't the winter forest she'd see from her bedroom window, the branches of the trees covered in so much snow that they dragged across the ground. No, it was the forest of the night _he_ had left her. It always was. It never changed.

Just as the nightmare didn't.

It returned every night as if it wanted to taunt her. Part of her wished it would go away, hoping she'd find closure if it left her alone. But another part held on to it because it meant that everything had once been real.

As usual, she woke screaming, wildly clutching the blanket she'd kicked aside. Charlie didn't come running anymore. He'd given up on that a very long time ago, having realised he wouldn't be able to help her anyway. She knew he couldn't stand her suffering. He wanted it to stop, but Bella doubted it would.

The darkness had wrapped itself around her too tightly.

Bella sat up slowly. Her throat was parched, raw. She usually put a glass of water on her nightstand (her throat always hurt after the screaming), but last night she'd forgotten, too wrapped up in the mystery that was the gold dust she'd found. Charlie didn't know anything about it as she'd quickly realised when she'd asked him over breakfast. He was as bad a liar as she was.

So the mystery remained. But Bella had to admit that it was good to have something else to think about, even if it made her even more scatter-brained than usual.

Apparently, she was even more preoccupied than she'd thought, for as she rolled over to climb out of bed she saw that there was a glass of water sitting on her nightstand after all, in the exact same place as it always did. The only difference was that it tasted fresh instead of stale, so it couldn't have been there all night.

Maybe Charlie had brought it.

Realising she had to pee as well, Bella got out of bed and padded over the hardwood floor which felt cold underneath her bare feet. She left the lights off as she didn't want Charlie to think that there was something wrong. Something even more wrong than usual that was. Suddenly her toes brushed something strange, something soft that shouldn't have been there, and Bella froze. She switched the lights on after all.

And found the floor of her bedroom littered with Christmas flowers and, which struck her as strange for this time of year but was certainly very beautiful, cherry blossoms.

When Charlie came to find out what she was doing up in the middle of the night he found Bella sitting in a sea of flowers, completely dazed as she held them to her chest.

**Vancouver, BC**

"Are you going to explain to Esme now why you mauled her cherry trees?" Emmett asked. He'd already exchanged his Santa suit for normal clothes. He didn't mind it as much as before though. Bella had almost caught them this time—Alice had insisted on fetching her that glass of water—and that would have thoroughly ruined the whole surprise.

And he wanted to surprise her and make her happy because he'd finally realised that she needed it, that Alice had been right all along. She'd described her visions to all of them to justify her decision to break the promise they'd made Edward, but Emmett hadn't expected it to be that bad. Seeing Bella toss and turn, even Rosalie had been shocked. For a moment Emmett had thought she'd shake Bella awake because that was exactly what he'd wanted to do. Wake her up and hold her and protect her from whatever nightmare held her in its clutches. He had a pretty good idea what she'd been dreaming about. The way she'd called out for his brother… It had made Emmett want to wring his neck. How could he do this to her?

He was delusional if he thought she'd ever get over him.

"No," Alice said in response to his question. "Christmas is only three days away. I'll tell her then." Discovering that Alice had clipped several dozen twigs off each of her cherry trees, Esme had been horrified. She'd been even more horrified when she'd found out that Alice had stuffed them in the freezer. To 'motivate' them. Apparently, there was some European tradition that if you took a cherry twig inside in early December and put it in a vase, it would bloom just around Christmas, provided it had been cold enough outside prior to hacking it off. Alice had spent hours on the Internet in search for something that was Christmassy but not a Christmas flower as they were 'too boring'. "And I doubt Bella would find stepping into fir branches amusing," Alice had added.

"You alright, Rose?"

Rosalie had been unusual quiet on the way home and the startled look she gave Emmett when he addressed her told him that she'd been deep in thought. He flopped down beside her and scooped her up into his arms (very carefully, to avoid crushing her wings), pressing a kiss on the crown of her head.

"I didn't think it would be this bad," she whispered. "I really thought she'd forget Edward, just like he assumed she would. She's just a human! Why can't she let go?"

"For the same reason I could never leave you or would ever be able to forget you if you weren't here anymore," Emmett replied softly. "She loves him. He was just too stupid to see it."


	3. Third Chapter

**Disclaimer: The Twilight Saga is property of Stephenie Meyer. I'm only borrowing.**

**T****HIRD**** C****HAPTER**

**22 December 2007**

**Forks, WA**

Bella was trying to stay awake.

As Charlie had stomped into her room with a fingerprint kit just after breakfast, she was now convinced that he didn't have anything to do with either the gold dust or the flowers. That meant that someone was breaking into her house at night without making any noise and, as Charlie had been annoyed to discover, without leaving any fingerprints. Bella was dead set on finding out who it was.

For the first time in months something else was keeping her up at night.

Bella propped herself up against the headboard, turned off the lights and waited. In the faint light of the moon that streamed in through her locked window she saw the contours of the flowers which she'd put into drinking glasses (Charlie didn't own a single vase) and of the trees outside. The house was silent except for Charlie, who sounded like he was busy decimating the rainforest.

Funny how she'd never noticed how loud a sleeper he was.

Bella woke to the soft jingling of bells she associated with Christmas. She was disoriented at first, didn't know where she was. Then she suddenly remembered and jerked up, hitting her head on the headboard in the process. It was freezing, so she quickly pulled her blanket tighter around her even as she willed her eyes to adjust to the darkness. The window was open. Suddenly a large shadow darted across her room and outside. In the dim moonlight Bella caught a flash of white and red. Gasping, she scrambled out of bed and rushed to the window.

There weren't even footprints in the snow below.

_Santa Claus_, she thought as she squinted into the trees. Nothing moved. "This is impossible," she said out loud.

But if she'd learned something this year, it was that sometimes the impossible existed.

oOo

"Alice," Rosalie hissed, slipping behind a tree just as Bella, with unusual speed on her part, appeared in the open window. "You could have warned us, you know!"

Alice, who sat high up in the branches of a fir tree, shrugged. "We did get out without her seeing us, didn't we?"

"That's not the point," Emmett muttered. Too conspicuous in his red Santa costume, he quickly took it off and stuffed it into the now empty bag. Underneath he wore black, which allowed him to melt with the darkness.

Alice shrugged again. "It doesn't really matter. And now we should probably leave." She sighed as she leapt down, bells jingling. "Although I'd love to see her reaction in the morning."

Emmett snorted. "As if you didn't already know how she'll react." He straightened, the brown bag carelessly slung over his shoulder. "I am a little worried about Charlie though. Are you sure he won't have a heart attack when he sees the living room?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "You're insulting me. Her Dad dropping dead is the last thing Bella needs and certainly not two days before Christmas. Trust me, he'll be fine. A little peeved maybe. You should have seen his face when he didn't find any fingerprints in Bella's room except her own!" She giggled. "Come on, let's go."

"I wonder if Jasper's had any luck with Edward," Emmett said as they disappeared into the darkness, an Elf, an Angel and a de-uniformed Santa Claus.


	4. Fourth Chapter

**Disclaimer: The Twilight Saga is property of Stephenie Meyer. I'm only borrowing.**

**F****OURTH ****C****HAPTER**

**23 December 2007**

**Chicago, IL**

Edward had indeed gone to Chicago. Or so Jasper hoped. There wasn't much time left to get him to Forks before Alice's deadline as it was and if he was in the wrong city, then Alice's surprise would be thoroughly ruined. But even if Edward was here, finding him would be beyond difficult. The entire city seemed to be out and about today.

Then there was the matter of keeping Edward in the dark about why Jasper was here. Jasper had practiced, of course, and he knew that he had the mental discipline not to betray his intentions, at least for a little while. Unfortunately, Edward would still see what he planned to do, a split-second before he actually did it. That was the problem and the reason Edward could, most of the time, outfight him, the most skilled fighter of their family.

Alice had told him to corner him somewhere he couldn't get easily away from without causing a scene. Hopefully, she was right and he wouldn't kick up a fuss. Edward had become quite unpredictable since he'd left. It would probably also be a good idea to have some backup. Jasper ran his hand through his hair as she frowned down at the crowd, thinking. Find Edward. Get him somewhere public. Grab him. Take him home.

Sounded easy enough.

Unfortunately, Jasper knew from experience that it was the easy plans that never worked out the way they were supposed to.

His cell phone beeped. _Emmett's on his way_, Alice had texted. _We don't need Santa at the moment._

Good. At least that would increase his chances of finding Edward by, oh, fifteen per cent or so and almost doubled his chances of capturing him. Jasper snorted. They still weren't very good though.

Or Alice would have been sure of the outcome.


	5. Fifth Chapter

**Disclaimer: The Twilight Saga is property of Stephenie Meyer. I'm only borrowing.**

**F****IFTH ****C****HAPTER**

**24 December 2007**

**Vancouver, BC**

"They'll be here in time, they'll be here in time, they'll be here in time."

Alice hoped that if she repeated the words often enough, like a spell, then time would oblige her and slow down. Her deadline was coming closer by the minute. In fact, Emmett and Jasper had only five hours left to find Edward (who still hadn't made up his mind about where he was going and was wandering aimlessly around Chicago) and get him to Forks before midnight. Carlisle and Esme were already on their way up from Ithaca, still clueless about why Alice wanted them to come to Canada. She wanted to surprise them as well

They deserved it just as much as Bella.

She'd been so happy, if surprised, about the festively decorated living room. Charlie had taken a little longer to recover from the shock of finding his living room covered in tinsel, silver and red Christmas ornaments and the gigantic tree, which Alice was particularly proud of. All that was missing for Bella's perfect Christmas was Edward.

Rosalie wished Alice would stop pacing. It was driving her insane. But she didn't say anything because she was impatient too. She wanted Edward back and, much to her own surprise, she wanted to be Bella happy. She hadn't been able to get the image of her writhing in her bed out of her head. How could Edward have been so wrong about her feelings for him?

"YES!" Alice suddenly hollered and made Rosalie jump. Literally.

"What?" Rosalie demanded. "Do they have him?"

"Yes!" Alice cheered, grabbing Rosalie's hands and whirling her around the room in an impromptu victory dance. "They decided to tell him that Esme wanted him home for Christmas. He bought it. Or will buy it. By the time he figures out what's really going on, it'll be too late!"

**Forks, WA**

"Please," Edward whispered. He looked utterly miserable as he hung in Emmett's unyielding grip. "Please don't. I left for a reason. It's better this way."

Emmett shook him like a misbehaving puppy. "No, it's not. Do you even know what she's going through?" He pulled up the memory of Bella screaming his name as she woke from her nightmare. "That was two days ago. Alice says it's been like that since you left."

"No," Edward whispered. "It can't be. I left her so that she could be happy."

"Well, she isn't," Emmett replied curtly. "What were you thinking? How could you not see how much she loves you? You're not usually this thick."

"I'm not good for her," Edward insisted.

"You're probably right," Jasper agreed softly. "We are dangerous. I almost killed her. But she can't live without you. Do you really want to hurt her that much? You're destined for each other. Don't you see that?"

"If I stay, I'll hurt her more."

"I don't think you will," Jasper replied. "In fact, I'm convinced you won't. You're her soul mate. Don't take that away from her. Don't take that away from _you_. You deserve to be happy, Edward, and you were never more happy than when you were with Bella. You will find a way to make it work."

"She won't take me back," Edward said, but it sounded half-hearted, and from the conflicting emotions he got off his brother Jasper knew that he was warring with himself. He loved her and his desire to be with her was so strong that it almost brought Jasper to his knees. But he was also scared. Scared of losing her. Scared of hurting her.

"Of course she will," Emmett said.

"You don't understand!" Despair tinges Edward's voice. "I told her I didn't love her anymore!"

"Why on earth would you do something so stupid?" Emmett demanded. Wringing Edward's neck suddenly sounded like a good idea again.

"Because I knew she wouldn't let me go if she believed I still loved her."

"Does this look like her letting go of you?" Again Emmett dredged up the memory.

Edward cringed.

Emmett shook him again. "Does it?"

"No," Edward admitted.

"You will tell her the truth and apologise to her. You will go down on your knees and beg for her forgiveness, if that's what it takes. Am I clear?"

"Yes," Edward whispered.

"Good." Emmett smiled, satisfied. "And now put on the clothes we brought because if she sees you looking like that," he eyed Edward's tattered clothes, disgusted, "she'll probably run in the opposite direction."

oOo

"Ho, ho, ho!"

Bella startled awake. Seeing a gigantic shadow in the middle of her bedroom, she screamed at the top of her lungs. The fraction of a second later a cool hand was clamped over the mouth. The scent that enveloped her was sweet and achingly familiar.

"Jeez," a voice that was just as familiar muttered, "keep it down. Or do you want Charlie to come running with his gun?"

"Emmett?" Bella gasped once the hand had disappeared. "What are you doing here? And why are you dressed like Santa Claus?" She gasped again. "It was you, wasn't it? The gold dust! The flowers! The living room! Charlie almost had a heart attack when he saw it."

"It was Alice's idea," Emmett replied, a big grin on his face, "but we all helped. Even Rosalie. Only Esme and Carlisle didn't know what we were up to. We wanted to surprise them too."

"Really?" Bella asked, fighting the tears that threatened to spill onto her cheeks. "You didn't forget me?"

"How could we forget you, little sister?" Emmett replied, scooping her up into his arms, blanket and all so that she wouldn't get cold outside. What else had that idiot brother of his told her? "Come one, we have a surprise for you."

He jumped out of the window, icy air rushing by. Bella peered into the trees. It was too dark to see properly, but she thought someone was there. "Did you all come?" she whispered, her voice trembling.

"Yep," Emmett confirmed. "Esme and Carlisle are still on their way, though. You'll get to see them later. And we brought you a surprise guest. You can come out now!" he called. The warning edge in his voice made it clear that there'd be hell to pay if Edward blew this.

Bella's hand flew to her mouth as Edward stepped out of the trees, flanked by Jasper and Alice to keep him from bolting. But they needn't have bothered.

"Bella," Edward whispered, his expression unfathomable as he took a hesitant step towards her. "I'm so sorry, Bella," he said coarsely. "I'm so sorry." He took another step, then his legs failed him and he sank into the snow. Alice gave Jasper a tiny, happy smile, as if to say, "See, I told you so."

"I'm so sorry for what I did," Edward continued quietly, the stillness of his body betraying his anxiety. "I never meant to hurt you and I'm sorry. For everything. For leaving. For causing you so much pain. And," his features twisted as if he was in agony, "for telling you that I didn't love you anymore. I was lying. I do love you and I always will."

"Merry Christmas, Bella," Alice said with a broad grin while Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie smiled at each other, relieved and happy.

It was a merry Christmas, indeed.

**The End**


End file.
